City Nurse Pleads Guilty In Prescription Drug Case

U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced Monday that Samilyn Olson, 47, of Jamestown, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.

Olson, a former nurse at the Veterans Affairs Community Based Outpatient Clinic, in Jamestown, was indicted back in March 2013 on 17 counts for distributing oxycodone, obtaining oxycodone through fraud, forgery and subterfuge and conspiring to do so.

“Absolutely it’s huge,” Chautauqua County Sheriff Joe Gerace said of the illegal sale of prescription drugs at the time of Olson’s indictment. “There’s a market for it, and prescription drugs continue to be sold all over.”

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Lynch, who is handling the case, on eight occasions between May and September 2010, Olson stole prescription forms from a nurse practitioner at the clinic, forged the nurse practitioner’s name and wrote prescriptions for oxycodone. The prescriptions were then filled by Olson or others at a local pharmacy in Jamestown, and then distributed.

Capt. Robert Samuelson of the Jamestown Police Department said prescription drug use is off the charts.

“Some of these pills are going for $10-$20,” he said at the time of the indictment. “It’s a never-ending battle for police.”

The plea is the result of an investigation on the part of the Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey G. Hughes, Northeast Field Office, the Veterans Affairs Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Messina, and the Jamestown Police Department, under the direction of Chief Harry Snellings.

The charge against Olson carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Sentencing is scheduled for May 2, 2014, at 12:30 p.m. before Judge Arcara.